It carries a host of satellite and laser-guided bombs and is able to remain over targets for long periods of time to assist in close-air support for troops on the ground.

In December 2001, a B-1 crashed while returning from a bombing run over Afghanistan to a British base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.

Originally designed to speed nuclear bombs into Cold War Russia, the B-1 was retooled to become a long-range bomber able to carry more conventional bombs, allowing it to hit more targets over a wider area.

Al-Udeid, about 20 miles south of Qatar's capital of Doha, has the military's longest runway in the Middle East.